Hmmm, am I a REAL runner now?!?

I'm trying to decide if losing your toenails defines you as a real runner! In a previous post I mentioned that after my 9 mile run my two middle toes were swollen and turning black and blue under the nails with blisters at the end of each toe. Yesterday I was sitting at the computer and bumped my foot. I reached down to massage my aching toes and one of my toenails came completely off - the toe right next to my big toe! So now I have 1 toenail off and two black toenails....quite attractive, NOT! I've just about decided that this could be a break even proposition....the extra money I'm spending on good running shoes and bandaids will be recouped because I will not pay for a pedicure when I only have 6 toenails! I'll probably save money by wearing tennis shoes all the time too, no need to buy flip flops or pretty sandles to show off your pretty toes either, LOL!

Tonight I learned a hard lesson about hydration. I spent the day at my DD's (Dear Daughter's) babysitting my grandson while she and the girls went to Vacation Bible School. We went to lunch and then when we got back to her house we were looking at her homeschool curriculum until my DH called and told me it was time to pick him up from work...we had totally lost track of time! I didn't drink any water at all all day. DH and I went straight to the gym and hit the treadmill...I died at 2 miles...and I was doing so good too...9:50 pace - feeling pretty good...but at two miles I couldn't breathe and my legs were starting to cramp up, because we hadn't stopped anywhere I had no bottled water and I was dry, dry, dry. I ended up walking and running to finish out my 45 minutes (47 with cooldown) and could only manage 4.51 miles. Before I run on Sunday I will for sure and certain hydrate well before the run and hydrate during the run and hydrate after the run. Lesson learned!